Joe Allen
'Joseph Michael "Joe" Allen '(born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh international footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liverpool. Liverpool career Since Brendan Rodgers took over at the Liverpool helm, there was continuous speculation linking the highly-rated Allen to Liverpool, whom Rodgers had coached during his time as Swansea manager. In July 2012, Swansea confirmed that they had rejected a bid from Liverpool for Allen. Reports emerged that Allen had a £15,000,000 release clause written into his contract, and that this was the figure Swansea were holding out for. On 8 August 2012, reports suggested Liverpool had offered the necessary sum to trigger Allen's release clause, and the following day he was spotted at Anfield watching the Reds win 3-0 against FC Gomel in the Europa League. After the match, Rodgers confirmed that a bid from Liverpool had been accepted by Swansea. On 10 August 2012, Liverpool confirmed that Allen had signed, and would wear jersey number 24 for the 2012-13 season. His debut came on 18 August 2012 in the League game at West Brom. Unfortunately it would be a game to forget as his side crashed to a 3-0 defeat, however Allen was widely praised as Liverpool's stand-out performer. Two weeks later on 26 August, Allen put in a man of the match performance in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City on his Anfield debut, and again was Liverpool's standout performer in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal on 2 September. Allen's fine start to life on Merseyside saw him voted the Standard Chartered Player of the Month for August 2012 by the Liverpool fans. Allen's fine early season form was to dip over the winter period, and after starting every League game under Brendan Rodgers, Allen was rested for the 4-0 home win over Fulham on 22 December 2012. Rodgers used Allen more sparingly over the coming games, and the rest appeared to benefit the young Welshman as, on 2 January 2013, Allen came off the bench in the home League game against Sunderland to produce an encouraging attacking display. Allen thought he had netted his first Liverpool goal in the match, however this was ruled out as Stewart Downing was adjudged to have strayed offside in the build-up play. On 27 January 2013, Allen scored his first Liverpool goal. The goal came in Liverpool's 4th round FA Cup tie away to League One side Oldham. With the Reds trailing 3-1, in the 80th minute, Allen volleyed a shot from the edge of the box that deflected off Oldham forward Jose Baxter and nestled in the bottom corner of the net. The goal was to prove a consolation however as Liverpool suffered a shock exit from the competition. Allen netted his second Liverpool goal on 21 February 2013 against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Europa League. After meeting a Jose Enrique cross, his initial header was saved but Allen reacted sharply to hook in the rebound. The goal helped Liverpool stage an impressive comeback as they needed to overturn a 3-0 aggregate deficit, however the Reds ultimately crashed out on away goals. Honours Individual *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (August 2012) Stats External links * *Joe Allen's profile on liverpoolfc.com * Allen Allen